Yoga and meditation are two inter-twined ways to achieve lower stress in your life. Both of these things have been shown to help reduce blood pressure, provide emotional relief, and relieve mental fatigue. They have also been shown to contribute to an increase in physical energy levels. Rather than sap your strength and energy as stress build-up does, yoga and meditation can help to increase your strength and energy.

Yoga and meditation are both ways to help you release your stress, channeling it into more positive and constructive channels. Allowing the tension that stress causes to build-up without release can lead to anger management problems, physical ailments, and mental fatigue. By getting rid of the stress, you allow yourself to focus more mentally, and you are able to think more clearly, letting fewer things bother you and cause an angry explosion of negative emotion. Such outbursts as emotional release have been shown to have negative impacts on the body’s health.

Any exercise is beneficial when it comes to stress relief, but yoga is helpful because it incorporates a variety of techniques that are medically shown to reduce stress. Breathing (slow and deliberate), fluid body movements, and strength building exercise are all things that can relieve stress and result in lowered blood pressure. Additionally, yoga in meant to help the mind and spirit as well, contributing to clearer thinking and better feelings. When one has feelings of general well-being, this is a healthy attitude that contributes to a healthier heart, lower blood pressure, and a sense of confidence and emotional stability.

Meditation is also helpful. It is linked in many ways to yoga. In meditation, you focus on something soothing, whether it is an inspirational verse, a calming image, a single syllable, or the way you are breathing. This pushes out other thoughts, and releases stress, allowing you to relax and your body to let go of the accrued tension. It is possible to do meditative yoga, and combine the benefits of the two practices.

It is important to reduce the feelings of stress you have in your life. If you can reduce the amount of emotional, mental, and physical stress that you feel, your body will be healthier and you will have more energy. You will feel better and think more clearly. And as a result, you will feel less stress in your life overall.

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Reduce Stress With Yoga and Meditation

A little stress in life is good if it invokes motivation and challenges us to perform better in a healthy way. But chronic stress, constant worry leads to anxiety and affects our health.

If you are feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed about something, here’s a simple step you can do to overcome the situation. Stop all activity, think about what made you anxious, take a few deep breaths, allow your nerves to calm down and then take an appropriate action of your choice from the list below.

Here is a list of few things you could do to help you relieve stress

1. Eat properly and do regular exercises

2. Set yourself targets to achieve. Your goals should be realistic and practical.

3. Try to complete the most important work first, and then the other work. Learn to prioritize and remove the unwanted tasks.

4. Reduce the urge to be a perfectionist. You are human and bound to make mistakes somewhere down the line.

5. Be flexible in your approach.

6. Avoid excess competition, but do not fear from competition either. Competitions help to bring out the best from you.

7. Do not buy on criticism, but constructive criticism is not to be neglected.

8. Do not worry too much if you fall short of expectations.

9. Exercise control over your temper

10. Push away negative thoughts

11. Take time out for yourself and spend some time alone thinking about the activities you planned for today, and make a plan for tomorrow

12. Keep quiet when someone’s yelling at you.

13. Keep smiling and be cheerful, it will de-stress others around you.

14. Try to keep the atmosphere light. Try to crack a joke when you are stressed out.

15. Practice meditation and yoga. This will help you relax.

16. Call a friend or your loved ones and speak to them for a while

17. Watch a funny movie or video on the internet

18. Take a massage followed by a hot shower

19. Indian head massage

20. If you like dancing, dance to your favorite music

Remember, when stressed out, it is important to take an action to relieve stress. Don’t make a mistake by doing negative things like drugs and alcohol. Be positive in your approach, think good, do good and only good will happen to you.

Alcohol is another substance people turn to for reducing stress. While it gives a feeling of elation to your mind, the body is still under tremendous stress. Alcohol makes your body to produce adrenaline and affect your immune system. You may not feel sleepy even though you are tired. Alcohol only adds to your worries, and increases stress.

Another common comfort food for stressed out people is sugar. There’s hardly anyone who wouldn’t have had an ice-cream, or a candy after a long day at work or any other stressful activity. Sugar affects your adrenaline glands and you may feel depression and irritated.

Fatty foods like sugar strain your cardiovascular system. You are leading your heart to more stress by eating such foods. You must also avoid salty food as this increases blood pressure. You will loose control over your emotions. If emotionally disturbed, you are likely to feel agitated later on with compound feelings.

One more disadvantage of eating all the above food is that when stressed out, these foods add to the weight on your body and start showing gradually. Many obesity cases are due to unhealthy eating in stressful conditions.

Eating chocolates, fatty foods, sweets, salty foods are all harmful when I’m stressed out. So, what is it that I should eat to avoid hunger pangs when I’m hungry and stressed?

To control your stress and avoid hunger pangs, take in fruits, vegetables and whole grain food. These will naturally assist you in fighting stress, are good for your health as they are rich with nutrients. These foods are fat free and you will not gain weight. Maximize the nutrients by eating them raw; you will loose vitamins and enzymes after cooking them.

Here are a few tips on eating habits which could reduce stress

1. Do not skip your meal, have at least 3 meals a day.

2. Try to eat at the same time everyday.

3. While eating focus only on eating. Do not eat while you drive, walk or work. Finish your food and proceed to whatever you want to do.

4. Incorporate fruits, salads in your meals.

5. Drink plenty of water.

• Husband and wife working full time, while their parents are dependent on their help for shopping due to health conditions.
• You are running hand to mouth over expenses and you are denied a hike in pay. You hardly seem to make ends meet and barely save some money.
• Divorced parents sharing the custody of child arguing with each other on matters concerning the children. These arguments tend to arise out of nowhere and more frequently.
• Ever increasing competition at work makes you feel pressure and for survival you work day in and day out. You may take up more work than you can handle. Working very early, staying up too late to complete your job. Taking time to recheck work to correct the mistakes, etc.

Types of stresses

1. Survival stress

It is a common response to fight dangers or run away from it, depending on the situation. When you feel that someone is trying to hit you, you’d react by hitting him before he hits you, or you’ll get clear and avoid getting hit. There is a sudden burst of energy in you enabling you to survive this physical danger.

2. Internal stress

You must have come across a crossroad in your life where you would have felt that you are not capable of handling certain situations, or you start worrying for no reason at all. This kind of stress is very difficult to understand and manage. This happens when we put ourselves in stressful situations and start worrying about things irrelevant to the issue.

3. Environmental stress

Responding to the situations which surround you is natural. For example, when passing by a noisy area, we tend to close our ears. We react differently to noise, crowds pressure from family, friends and work. Identifying environmental stress and getting a control over them will help reduce stress level to a great deal.

4. Stress due to fatigue and overwork

Working hard throughout the day takes a heavy toll on the body. One of the common reasons for such stress is the inability to manage time properly. Find ways to relax when you are uncomfortable, and stressed out.

When you experience stress, there is a dramatic change in your mind and body. Stress affects us physically, mentally and emotionally, and 90% of all health problems arise out of stresses.

Stresses can bring about changes in your body which may make you feel ill. Most common problems associated with stresses are

• Difficulty to conceive (infertility amongst women)
• Sleeping difficulties
• Headaches
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Nervous breakdown
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Stroke
• Weakness or lack of energy
• Irritation
• Inability to concentrate
• Erratic eating habits; eating too much or eating nothing at all
• Feeling sad and deprived
• Losing temper very easily
• Asthma
• Tension
• Stomach cramps
• Anxiety
• Weight gain (Obesity)
• Weight loss
• Heart problems
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Pain at joints
• Less sex drive
• Hair loss
• Hyperthyroidism
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Tooth aches
• Gum diseases
• Ulcers
• PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
• Migraine
• Auto-Immune diseases
  • Eczema
  • Psoriasis
  • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Oral and genital herpes
  • Crohn’s disease (also known as granulomatous colitis and regional enteritis)
• Possibility of cancer

Some facts about stress and concerns about health

Death due to emotional stress is more likely from cancer or cardiovascular diseases rather than smoking and drinking. A study has revealed that people who managed stress ineffectively had 40% higher death rate than people who were not stressed out

People who experienced heart attacks and got angry during emotional arguments doubled the risk of subsequent attacks.

When stresses are handled positively, they are beneficial to us and help us keep alert and be active, energetic. Too much stress turns into distress, and when we handle them negatively, it affects every part of life. Negative handling of stress affects you physically, mentally and emotionally. To make matters worse, we may break relations and deteriorate our status in the society. Negative handling of stress leads us to depression, and to get over this depression people get attracted to seek help of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Initially these things make us feel that we are not stressed, and give a sense of relieving stresses. The body remains stressed, and the substance abuse make us addicted to them which help in making matters worse. A stressed out person is be given care and attention as soon as possible with emotional support as well. Stress kills silently and can become fatal over a period of time, hamper one’s happy and healthy life.

And no matter how well you plan, problems and challenges will pop up. You will be stressed out. But it’s your responsibility to do something to feel better.

Here are 7 tips that can help you right away:

1) Don’t just sit there. Move! According to many psychologists, motion creates emotion. You might notice that when you are idle, it’s easier to become depressed. Your heart rate slows down, less oxygen travels to your brain, and you are slumped somewhere in a chair blocking air from reaching your lungs.

I challenge you right now, regardless of how you are feeling, to get up and walk around at a fast tempo. Maybe you might want to go to an empty room and jump up and down a little bit. It may sound silly but the results speak for themselves. Try it now for a few minutes. It works like magic.

2) Smell the roses. How do you smell the roses? How about investing some money to go on that one trip you’ve been dreaming about? Visit a country with lots of exotic places to jolt your imagination and spur your creativity. You need to detach from your daily activities and venture a little bit.

3) Get some company. If you’re like me, you have many acquaintances, but you only have a few true friends. This isn’t because I’m introverted. It is because I’m very selective about who I let enter my territory. I have worked too hard to build my house-my dream-and I won’t let anyone destroy it for me in the blink of an eye.

When you’re feeling down, call your true friends and share what it is that you’re going through. Ask for their advice or input. While their advice or suggestions may be helpful, often you’ll find that simply verbalizing your problems will help you feel better.

4) Help others cope with their problems. It is very therapeutic when you engross yourself in helping others. You will be surprised how many people’s problems are worse than those you may be facing. You can offer others assistance in countless ways. Don’t curl up in your bed and let depression and stress take hold of you.

Get out and help somebody. There are many charitable organizations that can use your help right now. My dear cousin Barbara reads to the blind. Call the National Federation of the Blind so that they can tell you how to get involved.

5) Laugh a little. By now you’ve heard that laughter is a good internal medicine. It relieves tension and loosens the muscles. It causes blood to flow to the heart and brain. More importantly, laughter releases a chemical that rids the body of pains.

Every day, researchers discover new benefits of laughter. Let me ask you this question: “Can you use a good dose of belly-shaking laughter every now and then?” Of course you can. What you are waiting for? Go a comedy club or rent some funny movies.

6) Visit third world countries. Nothing is more humbling than to visit a poor country and see first hand what other human beings go through just to survive. Most people who have taken such trips come back with a deep and profound sense of gratitude and appreciation.

They realize how much they’ve taken for granted without ever realizing it. I encourage you to travel whenever you can afford to do so. You’re not too busy. Do it for you. Your life will never be the same.

7) Wear your knees. If there were one sustainable remedy I could offer you when the going gets tough, it would be prayer. Many people, depending on their faith, might call it meditation. It doesn’t matter to me what you call it, as long as you have a place to run to.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Religions are crossroads converging upon the point.” Well, I don’t often discuss religion, and I don’t know what works for you; but Christianity is the way I know. However, I am sensitive enough to respect your faith. My whole point is that when everything else fails, prayer works!

This article is an excerpt from Rene Godefroy’s best-seller No Condition is Permanent. Rene is a motivational speaker that boosts morale and rekindles the spirit in the workplace. For more info about the book, visit Motivational Speaker

2. Write about the issues that are most impacting your life today, particularly any health concerns.

3. Make a list of everything causing you stress—which can lead to ill-health, then note what you can (or cannot) do about each item.

4. If you can’t get an event out of your mind—like an unpleasant conversation with a co-worker—write what you wish the conversation had unfolded, in dialogue form.

5. Create a mantra or positive affirmation, then journal ways to fulfill the affirmation. An example of a mantra might be: “I am safe, my life is filled with peace.”

Finally, re-read your journals on a consistent basis, looking for self-defeating or negative patterns.

Patti Testerman

“In terms of the entire world, if, when you wake up in the morning, you have a choice of what to eat, a choice of what to wear, a job to go to and a way to get there, you have abundance.”

And yet we squander that abundance so often by not making choices in our lives. We allow life to just happen to us, instead of choosing what we believe to be best for us. We have enough abundance to create and live our best life, and yet we lose out by choosing not to. We have very weak choice muscles.

So the question becomes:

are you a chooser or a loser?

If that sounds harsh, well, so be it. It’s a harsh reality.

How to be a loser

Allow life to just happen to you.

Play the victim role.

Complain without taking any action.

Believe you have no power to influence yourself or others.

Take the “dead roach approach” to events that occur in your life _ lying flat on your back with your legs wiggling in the air and whatever happens, happens.

Believe in silly sayings such as “waiting for the other shoe to drop” and “bad things always come in threes.” These are classic self-fulfilling prophecies.

Take a reactive approach to life – do not use you brain.

Ask really useless questions like “why does this always happen to me?” while whining “this is not fair!”

Play it safe and don’t take risks _ prefer the safety of mediocrity over the chance to go for want you want in life.

Set very low expectations for yourself and then consistently fail to live up to them.

How to be a chooser

Realize – get it – that you have choices!

Take a proactive approach to your life.

Expect success and for things to go well and go your way.

Set high expectations for yourself, higher than others expect of you, and then exceed them.

Pick a direction in which to head and then pursue it with all you have got.

Be creative. So many people limit themselves by telling me that they are just not creative. My response is “Do you worry?” Answer _ “Yes, of course. All the time.” Then you know how be creative. Worrying is simnply being creative in a negative, limiting way. Creativity is simply this: “looking at something that has always been there and seeing something that has never been seen before.”